Another Indian man racially assaulted in Australia

In Australia, another case of racial assault has been raised. An Indian Man from Kerela was allegedly assaulted by a group of Australian teenagers who had commented some racial abuses to the man at a Restaurant in Hobart.

Li Max Joy, a 33-year-old nursing student and working as a part-time taxi driver in Australia, alleged that a group of teenagers which included 4 boys and 1 girl hurled racial abuses like “you bloody black Indians” at him at the McDonald’s restaurant at North Hobart, he told PTI.

He told in the report that the teenagers were arguing with the worker inside the restaurant but soon they started targeting him.

The other people in the restaurant called the police, the attackers left but later they came again and assaulted him again.

Li was admitted to Royal Hobart Hospital with bleeding wounds and a CAT scan and X-rays were carried out to see if he had suffered any internal injuries.

Li was later discharged from hospital and he reported the incident to the police.

Joy hails from Puthuppally in Kottayam district, told the police, “They were angry at the McDonald’s staff but turned their anger on me in the car park and then inside the store”.

In an interview to TOI, Joy said, “I will stand till my last breath to make sure they will be punished under the Australian law.” Remembering the horrifying incident Li said that he was assaulted by three youngsters on the premises of a McDonald’s restaurant around 5am on March 25.

“On my way back home I had dropped in at the eatery to use the toilet. I dropped my plan to have a coffee as I saw a group of youngsters arguing with the store manager. As I went to my car and took out my jacket from the boot of the car, the group of four boys and a girl came out.

The youngster walking in front was continuously abusing the store manager and when he saw me started shouting at me saying “You black Indian …”. Even before I could realize what was happening, the person punched me on my face twice. The others joined him and I lost count of the punches I received. Though I ran into the store, one of them held on to my shirt and was continuously punching,” said Li.

Image Courtesy: TimesofIndia

Joy has been living in Hobart for the last 8 years.

The Australian media was quoted saying that “the racial mood is definitely changing. It is continuous now. Many other drivers have been abused but not everyone reports it to the police.”

Joy also told that there were no much efforts from the authorities to help him in the case. He waited in the police station for hours and there was not much response from them. He said, “I waited there for around one hour and there was neither a cameraman nor were they interested in attending to my case”.

He called up the control room of the police department and shared his agony. “I told them that I am a victim and do not treat me as a criminal,” he said. “In an hour, the cops attended to me and I am now waiting for the results of further action,” he said.

Joy has sent a detailed email to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj about the horrifying incident.